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X Prize on 100 M.P.G.

The 1-liter diesel prototype from VW averaged more than 200 m.p.g. in a drive from Wolfsburg to Hanover. The concept may never see production because of cost.

Regarding our recent blog post on the Automotive X Prize, Gary (#63) wrote: “Although I am interested in all of the technology that may come out of this, I think the mile per gallon equivalents should be raised to 150.”

James Farrell (#108) added that Volkswagen already has a 1-liter diesel prototype that gets over 200 m.p.g. “Have they already won?” he asked.

Jeffrey (#120) brought up the VW Lupo 3L TDI, which we drove in 2001. Available from 1999 to 2005 in Europe, it was sold with a 78 m.p.g. average and capable of 99 m.p.g. in careful driving. And if you consider the mileage equivalent for electric or fuel cell vehicles, then the Telsa Roadster (135 m.p.g.) and ZAP Xebra (147 m.p.g.) already qualify. Both are entered.

I got in touch with Neal Anderson, a senior director at the Automotive X Prize, to talk about how they came up with the 100 m.p.g. target.

Mr. Anderson responded first with an e-mail, directing me to the Automotive X Prize blog, in which he explained that 100 m.p.g. sounded sexy — but it also worked scientifically.

“By having a 100 m.p.g. threshold with a speed race as the basic challenge, we are assuring that the winning vehicle will have close to four times today’s C.A.F.E. fuel economy standard, but are also encouraging designers to focus on comfort, performance, and safety,” he wrote, referring to the calculations on the blog. “If we set the bar much higher (say 150 m.p.g.), there wouldn’t be a drastic increase in fuel saved, but (given our understanding of today’s technology) there would be significant increased development costs and time-to-market, as well as likely reduction in comfort and other customer-friendly features.”

This brings up an important point: although 100 m.p.g. is getting the media hype, the Auto X Prize is actually a race; 100 m.p.g. is just one of the criteria to qualify.

“We’ll hold a qualification race in 2009 and a final race in 2010,” Mr. Anderson said in a follow-up phone interview. “And the competitors with the best overall time in a real world stage that reflects consumer driving patterns (city, start, stop, idle, hill climb, distance — all those types of things) — the competitors that achieve our minimum requirements of 100 m.p.g., etc. with the best time — also highlighting performance — will win the top prize in each class.”

A mainstream class will consist of “conventional” vehicles with four wheels or more, four passengers, minimum range of 200 miles. An alternative class will allow for three or more wheels, a minimum of two passengers. “The alternative class focuses on pushing the concept of what a car is forward,” said Mr. Anderson. Smart money should be on the Tesla Roadster to take that class.

Finally, Mr. Anderson stressed the ideological difference between the Automotive X Prize and its highly publicized predecessor, the Ansari X Prize for personal space flight. While the inaugural X Prize was intended to kick-start a new industry, the Automotive X Prize is “targeting one of the largest industries, if not the largest on the planet, and trying to shift that and to change consumer perceptions about what is possible and hopefully consumer demands on what they want and what they buy.”

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What isn’t mention in this article is the stipulation that these cars are not to be prototypes and there fore un-affordable to the public. Teams that enter the Automotive X-Prize must show that the vehicle can by manufactured, using today’s technology, for a reasonable price. These aren’t suppose to be show cars with magnesium alloy engines and lighter than air chassis in the millions-of-dollars range. Each team must also show that they have a business plan on how to manufacture and produce their entry. We are talking production ready vehicles that achieve 100mpg at highway speeds with ranges that make them feasible in the current consumer market. Quit a challenge!

The Messerschmitt KR200 was designed by Fritz Fend, the designer who invented the fighter jet, the Me-262. There is a clue in there. We need a paradigm shift. We need cars designed not like normal cars but instead like aircraft. What we need is for Burt Rutan to design a KR200-like car. Burt Rutan designed the Spaceship 1 to win the original X Prize.

The 100 mpg challenge is a good one. The goal is just high enough to cause designers to want to design cars like wingless aircraft because at full speed most of the friction on a car is air friction. Also, subtracting weight makes for better acceleration. The KR200 would be a good contender if made hybrid.

I would take note of where the mpg readings come from when comparing them as the USA gallon is different to that used in the UK & Australia.
US gallon = 3.75 litres (approx) while Imperial gallon = 4.565 litres (approx). It gives us a much better reading here in Australia but the USA mpg is much better when looking at fuel efficiency.

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